A Lion's Empathy
by purplerawr
Summary: Draco Malfoy has spent too long taunting the Gryffindors, so now some of the Lions are exacting their sweet, humiliating revenge! One lion though, has a sudden change of heart… HP/DM
1. Part 1

**A Lion's Empathy**

Author: purplerawr

Rating: M

Warnings: Slash relations (HP/DM), nudity, very minor bondage (not particularly meant in a kinky manner) and too much Firewhisky…

Summary: Draco Malfoy has spent too long taunting the Gryffindors, so now some of the Lions are exacting their sweet, humiliating revenge! One lion though, has a sudden change of heart…

*****

The first day of the week was quite a normal one for Draco Malfoy. He had been to all his lessons, meticulously sucked up to most of his teachers (Professor Binns was not worth exerting his skills on, he kept on referring to Draco as "Golding"), he had liberally annoyed Gryffindor (especially those Golden Trio prats!) in classes he shared with them and now he was at the end of his last class, Potions, cleaning his cauldron.

The Weasley boy was walking past with lacewing that he had borrowed from the storeroom and Draco could not resist the new insult that he had conjured up in the back of his mind.

"Can't even afford your own potions ingredients, Weasel?" He asked softly as the boy walked past his desk, just loud enough that only he could hear it. Draco achieved the desired effect when Weasley turned around looking highly affronted.

"It's none of your business, but I ran out of lacewing last week! So shut your mouth!" He replied much more loudly and grabbed Snape's attention.

"10 points from Gryffindor for shouting at classmates classmates, Weasley. Please keep your inane comments to yourself." He drawled from his desk, a sneer on his shadowed face, earning another scowl at Draco from Weasley.

"That's just what you planned, wasn't it?" He hissed and Draco merely smirked in reply. "Well, you won't be smirking soon! You just watch!" With that he stormed off in the direction of the storeroom. Draco was not as quick as usual to cast off Weasley's words as empty threats; he certainly had looked very serious when he said them. What were the Gryffindors planning? Draco admitted deep down that it made him nervous…

He looked over to the other Gryffindors. Most weren't looking in his direction, as a Gryffindor in the supposed plan might do after that exchange with the Weasel, but one was. The Golden Boy himself was watching, but he didn't look as maliciously happy as Weasley had. He looked… worried? No, that couldn't be it, that was ridiculous. Draco hadn't seen Potter anything but stupidly happy, fantastically depressed or amusingly angry during all their years at Hogwarts. Worried was just not something the Golden Boy felt, he had all his bloody friends to take that away. It almost made Draco jealous, but it really, really didn't.

After a few seconds Potter looked away, down to his cauldron, which had just been _scourgified_ by the Know-It-All Mudblood. Draco similarly turned away, not wanting to be caught staring at Gryffindors with an expression other than the utmost contempt. Slytherins had to keep up appearances, no matter how worried they themselves felt deep down.

What if Potter was worried that the Weasel had alerted Draco to their plan, making Draco more ready for whatever was coming? Yes, that had to be it. It was the most logical explanation; why else would he be worried…?

Draco would just have to keep his guard, even though any plan they had would probably be full of flaws and completely uninteresting. Gryffindors weren't exactly known for their revenge skills, most of the time they were busy acting brave and courageous, or whatever else they wasted their time on.

All the same, Draco stayed clear of any Gryffindors as he left Potions that day.

*****

The second day of the week for Draco was anything but normal.

He had been walking aimlessly along the corridors just after dinner, not wishing to go back to the Slytherin common room just yet, and had been walking past an unflattering portrait of Wardring the Wanderer when suddenly somebody grabbed his arms, pulling them forcefully behind his back.

"Hey! What in Merlin's name?" Draco shouted, trying to reach his wand but could not.

"Oh, we can't have him calling out for the other little snakes now, can we?" He heard a jovial, mischievous voice from behind him.

"My thoughts exactly, brother," came another similar voice, "_Silencio_!"

Draco's new protest was cut off as his voice failed him. He took to kicking out instead, trying to inflict pain upon his captors.

"Thrashing little snake, eh?" The first voice, very close to his ear, said again.

"I can sort that out," said a voice, unmistakeably the Weasel's, "_Petrificus Totalus_!"

Now Draco's body wasn't working either; he could do nothing but think evil thoughts. How the heck had he been captured so easily? It was like he hadn't even seen them coming.

His thoughts were interrupted as he was dragged into a classroom, his body as stiff as a board. Then he was dropped painfully onto a desk. He could finally see all of his kidnappers. There was the Weasel, the Weasel twins and Harry Potter, still looking worried. Why the hell would he be worried now? Draco was too angry to think too much into it.

"So, carrying on with the general plan?" One of the twins said and the other nodded. The first pointed his wand directly at Draco, who braced himself. "_Evanesco_!"

Oh great. Now Draco had even lost his clothes, he realised as he immediately felt freezing cold and extremely embarrassed. He was the most vulnerable he had ever felt around his enemies.

"Harry, why aren't you watching the door? Harry?"

"Oh, sorry." Potter sounded embarrassed, presumably turning back to watching the door as was his allotted job.

"And don't forget the binding charm!" Ron prompted, causing the other twin to point his wand at Draco whilst muttering a complicated sounding spell under his breath, a spell Draco thought a Weasley would never be capable of.

"There." The particular twin said with satisfaction, "that should hold him until we come back."

"Nicely done, Fred. I couldn't have done better myself." The other twin, George, commented and Ron hummed in agreement. Potter said nothing.

"Now, let's get out of here before someone walks in on this. We wouldn't want to be here too when they walk in…" The Weasel said and they all nodded in agreement. The three Weasleys didn't hesitate in leaving the room, though Potter lagged behind a bit.

Draco could feel the body binding curse wearing off now, but he could also feel invisible ties to his wrists and ankles, keeping him on the desk. He didn't stop struggling though, and tried to call out Harry's name even if he couldn't make a sounds. What if Potter was feeling guilty about what they had done to Draco? He took his chance, plastering a desperate look on his face.

"Harry… Harry…" he mouthed, looking across the room at Potter, who looked in two minds about what to do for a few moments.

"Hey, Harry, is something wrong?" It was the usual Weasel, still in the doorway. "We need to get going!" He took Potter's arm and dragged him out of the room, shutting the door on the way out.

Draco struggled against the bonds for a while but then gave up. He was stuck there. The Weasel and friends had gotten their precious revenge after all – who knew Gryffindors could be so devious? Draco would just have to while away his time plotting his own revenge until someone walked in on the whole humiliating situation. Perhaps after being freed Draco could put a memory charm on them? He wasn't too fond of the idea of this getting around the whole school, as it probably would if he were found.

He was so deep in thought he did not hear someone slowly open the door and slip into the room…

*****

Harry had not wanted to go through with the revenge plan in the first place. He knew that if they did this then Malfoy would only then get _his_ revenge eventually and then he, Harry, would probably end up in a worse situation than Malfoy himself was in right now.

He also didn't like it because it was outright bullying. Sure, Malfoy was a bully himself, constantly throwing insults and taunts, but he had never done something as bad as this. Mostly because Malfoy had always been a coward, but still. To Harry this felt bang out of order, even if it was humiliating his enemy and rival.

So that was why he came back to put a stop to it. Well, that's the only reason he would admit to. Any other reason felt far too odd to try and decipher.

He had been walking back to the Gryffindor common room with Ron and the twins, waiting until they were suitably far away from where Malfoy was trapped, and then told them he was just going to the library to look up something before coming back and he could be a few hours. He declined Ron's offer to help him find the made-up book he was interested in.

He could hear Ron's voice as he jogged down the corridor. "I hope somebody like Lavender finds him because then it'd be around the entire school within five minutes…"

Instead of going to the library he went back to the room they had just come from with the intention of letting Malfoy go. Well, that was his first thoughts, but then he saw many flaws in this. One: as soon as he gave Malfoy his wand, he would probably get jinxed. Two: as soon as he let Malfoy out of the classroom, he'd be in detention quicker than you could say "Snape." Even if he did let Malfoy go, he knew the boy would land them in trouble. So, he would just have to change the plan a little bit.

It took a few minutes for Malfoy to even notice that he was there and it was when Harry removed the charm that had silenced his voice.

"-dy stupid fucking Gryffindors, I hate them all… wait, I can speak? Must be the shitty charm wearing off…" Draco was cursing a lot more than Harry had ever heard him curse before. So perhaps the Slytherin did break the rules sometimes that he, Harry, would usually get landed in trouble for.

"Now what?" Harry heard Draco mutter to himself and sigh, sinking back onto the desk and trying to shift, in vain, into a more comfortable position. "I'm stuck here for the foreseeable future."

"Not if you cooperate with me." Harry said quietly, his voice straining due to how nervous he was feeling (which was odd – he was the one in control of the situation, after all.)

At first Draco froze, but then he jerked his head up and set his steel grey eyes on Harry suspiciously, his back arching with the movement. Harry tried not to stare at his body, helpless on the desk.

"What are you going to do to me now?" He asked, sounding wary and thoroughly exasperated.

"Nothing like that." Harry said, looking at the floor. "I just thought you'd want to be saved the humiliation."

"Oh," Draco said, smirking, "I see now. The Golden Boy is feeling guilty, aren't you Potter? Thinking that helping me out will take away your blame in this? Hmmm?"

Harry shrugged. "You're right, I do feel bad about it; I didn't want to do this in the first place. So, you want my help or not?"

It was either Potter's help or getting discovered by somebody else for Draco. For once he chose the option including Potter, even though he still thought of him as a massive git, no matter how helpful he may turn out to be in this situation.

"If you must." He sighed, though secretly he felt impressed. He had not expected this from Potter at all.

"Okay," said Harry, "but there are some things I can't do."

Draco scoffed. "Like what? I'm not asking you to pronounce us as best friends or anything, just bloody well let me go!"

"See..." Harry said, "I can't do that. I can't let you go right now because you'll just go and tell on us and I don't want to get my friends in trouble."

"Why you call people like that friends, Potter…" Draco mumbled and Harry cut him off angrily.

"Oh, right, and you call your little henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle, friends? What about Pansy Parkinson?" He asked and Draco made a face.

"I don't need friends." Draco repeated the answer he always had when his parents asked about asking friends over for the holidays. He didn't know anybody that he would want to spend weeks with, even out of his Slytherin classmates. He preferred it to be on his own, anyway.

"Whatever," Harry shrugged, "anyway, I can't let you go. And I can't give you your wand."

"There's not much to worry about with that. There's no point taking my wand when I'm in no fit state to use it." He gestured with his head to his pinned down body. His pinned down, _naked_ body. He fought back a blush.

"I can get rid of the binding charm," Harry supplied, "so I don't want to risk giving you your wand. If you did hex me then you'd just escape anyway."

"So technically I'm still captured – so how are you helping me again?" Draco was getting tired of this now. He just wanted to escape, fully clothed and with the security of his wand. By now he could have been on the Quidditch pitch, flying around for fun, or reading a book in the common room. He also wanted to get far away from Harry Potter.

"I'll stop anyone from seeing you." Harry explained. Well, taking away the humiliation part was something, albeit a small something, Draco admitted to himself. He said nothing though; he couldn't show any gratitude for Potter's help… not that he felt any in the first place.

"Okay then, will you get rid of the binds then?" Draco complained, struggling against them for emphasis.

"Okay." This word Draco could hear, but the next three he could not, no matter how much his ears strained to catch them. Then he felt the binds disappear and immediately leapt up. His first instincts were that of fight or flight, but then he was reminded that he was still naked and without a wand, so turned away in shame.

Then he felt a cloak sweeping across his shoulders, covering his body from his neck to his ankles. He immediately felt relieved; he knew it was only Potter, but it wasn't nice when someone could see you so completely naked. He had never felt so self-conscious in his life. The Gryffindor emblem on the cloak made him scowl, but he wasn't about to complain: at least it covered him well. He turned back to glare at Potter anyway, just because it was what he was used to doing.

"Was the sight of me too much for you, Potter?" He barbed and sent Harry stumbling backwards a bit, stammering.

"I-I thought you looked embarrassed." He replied and Draco laughed, externally nonchalant but internally just a bit impressed by the other boy's thoughtfulness.

"I'm a Malfoy, I don't do embarrassed, especially when it comes to my body. I'm surprised you didn't faint at the sight of me." Malfoy drawled and Harry simply laughed, a clear, infectious sort of sound.

"Just as arrogant as ever, aren't you?" He murmured whilst walking to the door. "_Colloportus_." He commanded his wand, locking said door. "I still can't trust you. I also don't want the others knowing that I let you escape if you managed it."

"Someone else could have helped me escape." Draco suggested, but Potter shook his head.

"That was a special binding spell; it required a password to deactivate it. They'd know it was me." He explained, giving Draco a lopsided smile as a sort of apology.

"I don't see why you bothered then." Draco stated, still confused by what Potter was doing. They were not actions of someone who hated him, so what did they mean?

"I just don't think you deserve this." Potter replied, looking Draco in the eye.

"You don't?" Draco's reaction was incredulous. "After all the insults, all the fighting, you don't think I deserve this?"

"Yeah, well, I've insulted you before too and I've fought back, so we're even on that. This is too far in my opinion. Plus you'd just want to get revenge afterwards; it would be never ending…" Harry frowned and shook his head. "I don't think it's worth it."

"I probably would want to get revenge, I sort of still do." Draco admitted with an amused smile. Just minutes ago he had been thinking obsessively of the very thing, revenge, but now it seemed to feel futile, pointless.

"So, it looks like we're stuck here for four hours." Harry exhaled deeply then slumped down into the nearest seat. Draco's reaction to the words was much more uncouth.

"Four hours? We're here for four fucking hours?" He burst out, looking completely disgusted. "What are we supposed to do for four hours? Why do I have to spend four hours with you?"

"That's the plan, we were to leave you here until after dinner, when we'd come back and undo the binding charm and then run for it." Harry gave Draco an apologetic smile, but it went unnoticed by the fuming Draco.

"Oh great," he exclaimed, "Why don't you just kill me now?"

Harry laughed. "I'd rather not."

*****

They had been in the room for nearly half an hour now, and Draco was bored of pacing the room and occasionally asking Harry to use his wand to check the time.

"What are we going to do for three and a half hours? And why didn't you get me a book?" He pointed at the small book, _Quidditch Annual 1995, _that Harry was leafing through.

"Sorry," Harry said sarcastically, "I didn't have time to go to the library whilst rushing back here. You can read it after I've finished."

"That'll take years…" Draco muttered, frowning at the Gryffindor emblem on his body covering cloak as if it had caused all of his current problems. He was interrupted when a book hit him on the chest, sliding down to his feet.

"Read it now then." Harry sniped at him, folding his arms and sinking into his chair. "Maybe I shouldn't have done this…"

"Maybe you should just bind me to the table and leave then." Malfoy said bitterly before he could stop himself. He really, really didn't want to be bound to the table again.

Harry rolled his eyes. "There's my conscience again, telling me not to do something I really want to." He eyed the desk Draco had been bound to hopefully. "No, I just don't want to do it."

"You're really odd." Draco observed and Harry looked deadpan at him.

"Of course you'd think that. You'd tie me naked to a desk within seconds if you got half a chance." Then his eyes went wide, as he realised what he had just said. Draco cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't." He kept his answer evasive as he sat down to read the borrowed book, making sure his cloak did not open up and reveal himself again. He had been naked in front of Harry Potter enough times for one day.

He read a few pages, then began to realise that he was being watched. Then he couldn't focus on the page in front of him at all, reading the same few words over and over… he slammed the book closed.

"Potter, if you carry on staring at me like that I swear to Merlin I will throw this book back at you, but this time directed at your face." He said through gritted teeth. Normally he didn't mind being stared at (I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to stare at him if they got the chance? He _was_ rich and beautiful, as far as he was concerned) but Potter's eyes felt like two lasers slowly burning his through his skin.

"Sorry, I was just… daydreaming." He replied, a blatant lie, and Draco sighed.

"I'm thirsty, Potter." He complained, though he knew that the other boy probably couldn't do anything about it.

"Oh, okay, Dobby!" Harry called thin air: straight away a house elf, one quite familiar to Draco, apparated into the room with a small pop.

"Harry Potter!" It spoke with delight. "How may I be of service?"

"Dobby, if you're able to, could you get two glasses of pumpkin juice from the kitchens please?" Draco fought back the scoff forming in his throat. Since when did people say "please" to house elves?

"Of course I can sir, anything for Mr. Potter!" The elf disapparated and returned a few seconds later with two mouth watering glasses of the orange liquid.

"Thank you, Dobby." Harry said gratefully, putting the two glasses on the desk. Draco grabbed one without any such pleasantries, drinking half of it in a few hurried gulps.

"That's better." He sighed.

"Master Draco!" The elf cried suddenly, realising who Draco was and causing him to turn around and address the elf.

"So you did used to work for us?" He observed and the elf immediately looked fearful and angry.

"Yes, Dobby did, and Dobby didn't like a minute of it!" Dobby exclaimed, but then ran to the nearest desk and began to bash his head on it repeatedly.

"What is it doing?" Draco was horrified – what was it doing hurting itself? Harry was quick to stop him.

"Dobby, you don't work for the Malfoys anymore, you don't have to do that." He said calmly and Dobby stopped.

"Thank you, Harry Potter. You are too kind to Dobby. Dobby shall take his leave now." With a last glower at Draco the elf vanished.

"Why was he hurting himself like that?" Draco asked again, still looking shocked. He hadn't seen any of the elves at the Malfoy Manor do something like that.

"Oh," Harry looked sour, "you can thank your father for that. He instructs the elves to punish themselves if they reveal anything about the Malfoy family or say anything rude about them."

Draco frowned. "Father never told me about that. That seems… harsh." His own words startled him - since when was he bothered about House Elf welfare? But it was too late - he had come out with it now. It seemed to be one of those days for Draco to say things without thinking them through first; perhaps it was a being-naked-in-front-of-your-nemesis thing, he mused.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "You didn't know? Doesn't daddy tell you all of the horrible things he does to those around him?"

Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry. "I never said my father told me everything about what goes on in his life. In fact, I am mostly kept in the dark about what goes on." He couldn't help but feel resentful; his father did hardly tell him anything, only repeated mantras on how great and formidable the dark arts and the Dark Lord himself were, none of which Draco believed deep, deep down. But life for Draco was all about keeping up appearances, so supporting the dangerous tyrant that was You-Know-Who would just have to be another appearance to keep.

Draco had an idea, one that would distract them well from the serious turn the conversation was beginning to take that he was not comfortable with.

"So, Dobby can get you anything you want, Potter?" He asked and Harry nodded.

"I don't ask him for much, though; he has his own work to do. Why?" He looked suspicious; what did he think, that Draco would ask for some dark potion to poison him with? Draco could have laughed at the thought, but his mind was preoccupied.

"How about firewhisky?" Draco revealed his true intentions. Harry did a rather accurate impression of a fish drowning in air.

"Are you joking? You want to get drunk?" He looked gob smacked.

"No," Draco said sarcastically, "I want to admire the bottle Potter."

"Why do you want to get drunk at a time like this?" Harry tried again, ignoring Draco's sarcasm.

"Time flies when you're too pissed to care." Draco explained. "You wouldn't know that, seeming as you've probably never gotten drunk before…"

"I have!" Harry replied hotly, his pride wounded.

"Oh please." Draco dragged out each syllable with disdain. "I bet you've never even gotten tipsy before." His words hit right on target.

"Dobby," the elf apparated to a determined looking Harry this time, "Can you get us a bottle of firewhisky?"

Dobby looked disapproving before he vanished. "As long as Harry Potter drinks in moderation, Dobby will." A few seconds later the bottle was in Harry's hands, a beacon of boredom reducing possibility.

"I'll make you take back every word you just said." Harry growled, putting the two now empty pumpkin juice glasses on the desk nearest to him, the one Draco had been bound to. Draco smirked.

"I won't unless you beat me at downing shots." He challenged and Harry accepted it with a nod.

"One of my favourite games." He said and Draco was not sure whether he was bluffing or not, he looked so confident. They sat either side of the desk, Harry pouring the first shots.

"Let the game begin."

*****

Many shots each later and both of the boys were very drunk.

"Potter," Draco confessed, barely seeing the usually striking green eyes of his through the haze over his eyes, "I sink I'll be thick if I have another one."

Astoundingly, Harry understood what Draco meant. "Me too," he slurred in agreement, "Truce?"

Draco nodded languidly and got to his feet just as Harry did, staggering a bit as he walked around the desk to reach his opponent.

"Truce." He replied over-solemnly, reaching his hand out to shake but misjudging the distance completely to Harry's hand and instead grasping his shoulder for support. "Oops!" he observed, not taking the hand away but gripping on tighter as his world began to spin.

Harry didn't seem to mind; in fact he began to giggle as if it were the funniest thing in the world and then resting his head on Draco's shoulder, his shoulders still shaking with laughter.

"Goodnight, Draco." He crooned warmly, still laughing gently, the echoing music of it tickling Draco's ear.

"Hey," Draco slapped him lightly on the arm, "You can't fall asleep on me!"

"Mmm, yes I can," came the mumbled reply, "lie down with me."

"Okay..." Draco mumbled back, the cold stone floor suddenly seeming incredibly enticing to him. He let Harry take his hand as they sat down clumsily to the floor. Then, with Harry's arm around Draco, they were lying down, facing each other. Draco had not even noticed how little of him Harry's cloak was now covering until Harry inelegantly pulled it further around him.

"Don't get cold," Harry said sternly, but the effect was ruined when he began to laugh uncontrollably again. Draco joined in, the laughter definitely infectious, Harry's arm still wrapped around him like a warm blanket. Draco shifted into the warmth, his inebriation stopping him from feeling awkward about it, cuddling up to someone he had always wanted to keep at arm's length before. Harry responded with putting his other arm around Draco, tucking it underneath the Slytherin's shivering body.

"Don't be cold to me, Draco," Harry whispered, "I much prefer it when you're warm to me... like this..."

Draco had neither the time nor energy to wonder what Harry's words meant before drifting off to sleep.


	2. Part 2

Draco woke up first, his side aching but the rest of him pleasantly warm and comfortable, cushioned by something soft yet solid. Then he completely woke up, opened his eyes, and jumped back so quickly from the sight laid before him that he managed to bash his head on a desk leg. This did nothing to help his raging, barely slept off hangover.

"Fuck!" Harry was woken abruptly by this proclamation of absolute, angry pain.

"Wha- oh, my head..." He groaned, patting the floor with one hand in a vain attempt to find his glasses. "Where are my glasses?"

They were next to Draco, he could see them glinting at him. "I have no idea Potter, it's not my fault you're as blind as a bundiman."

"Are bundimans blind?" Harry murmured, nursing his forehead.

"Of course they are, Potter, they're like pieces of dirt." Draco snapped irritably, regretting it when his ears began ringing. "Oh great, now you've made my ears ring."

"Don't blame me, you're the one being as grouchy as a grindylow." Harry retorted, laughing slightly at his mockery of Draco.

"Oh _shut up_." Came the tense reply. "What's the time?" Draco's voice took on a worried tone – what if the other Gryffindors came back to find him and Harry lying on the floor together? Harry would get caught... wait, why did he care?

Harry, having finally found his glasses, gave Draco a quizzical look. Then he fished his wand out of his pocket and performed the necessary spell. "It's 5 o' clock. We still have an hour and a half."

"Oh." Draco said, lifting himself slowly so he could sit himself in the nearest chair. He should have felt annoyed – so much time was left – but he just felt relieved. How odd, he thought, saving the memory of the feeling for later inspection and possible eradication.

"The alcohol really was a stupid idea," Harry speculated from the floor, "Why the hell did we do that?"

"The same reasons anybody drinks: to pass the time, to feel more comfortable, to forget. For the high before you crash back down to reality again."

Harry frowned at Draco's words; Draco could see it out of the corner of his eye. "You drink to forget? Forget what?"

Draco blinked, temporarily caught off guard. He regained himself. "We all have things we want to forget, Potter." He tried to make his words sound condescending but they came out more of a sad mumble. He blamed it on the hangover.

"You can drink yourself stupid and those things will still always be there, Malfoy." Harry argued. Draco sighed resignedly; Harry always made things sound so obvious, when Draco liked to believe that there was more subtlety to life.

"You just wouldn't understand."

Harry stood up so quickly that for a minute, to Draco's tired eyes, he looked like a giant, imposing and all consuming of Draco's vision. He was made powerful by his anger.

"I wouldn't understand?"

"No, you-"

"Of course I understand! I have the darkest wizard of our times baying for my blood!"

"You're not the-"

"Every day I'm terrified that the people I love could get killed!"

"That's just-"

"My very own godfather, the only element of family I have left, is on the run for his life, convicted of a crime he didn't commit!" By this point Draco could imagine Harry surrounded by a halo of flame if he had so wished, he was burning so much with fury.

"Do you mean Sirius Bla-?"

"My own parents, my very flesh and blood, are dead. Dead! I would give anything, even my very own life, so that they could have lived on. Yet I'm not drinking all these troubled away, I'm living with them." Harry grabbed the back of a chair and dumped himself onto it, bashing his fists down onto the desk. He had finished.

Draco had never seen him acting so fiercely. He was used to feeling complete disdain at Harry's anger, seeing it as weak and undignified, but at that moment he just felt terrified of so much emotion openly expressed, not to mention a bit envious. He, Draco, had never expressed himself in such a way, he had not been able to for all of his life. He had always had to keep all his own troubles carefully locked away.

He was so shocked by the outburst of angry truths that he was rendered speechless, sitting forlornly on his chair, his hands resting on his chin as his elbows did on the desk. He had known most of the things Harry had referred to, being common knowledge to the wizarding world, but never had he heard them from Harry's very own lips, spoken with such long-endured suffering and sadness as only Harry could convey. It was easy to forget some of the monstrosities that had marred his life from the very beginning for they were so accepted as fact that the emotion of them had been lost to most people.

"So," Harry muttered, now feeling more self-conscious after his furious speech, "if you have problems you want to hide from with drinking, don't think I wouldn't understand."

"Potter," Draco regained his use of words and did all he could think of doing in the strange situation, "Sometimes 'You wouldn't understand' means that I just don't want to talk about it." He immediately regretted saying it, though usually he would have viewed it as an excellent emotionless parry to someone trying to make him admit to having feelings beyond contempt, superiority and smugness.

"Typical." Harry sounded disappointed and just a bit hurt, turning away from the other boy. All at once Draco hated himself, for pushing someone away as he always did, and Harry for giving up on him so easily as everybody else had.

"My father wants me to be a Death Eater." He blurted out, willing Harry to turn back around and face him again, just notice him. Harry did turn around and rather quickly.

"Seriously? When?" He asked, getting up and dragging his chair until he was directly opposite Draco's desk. He had even temporarily forgotten his throbbing headache at this news.

"Well, whenever the Dark Lord wishes, which will probably be quite soon." Harry could see the fear behind Draco's mild words, it was searing into his cloudy grey eyes.

"And you don't want to be one." Harry stated and received a nod.

"Of course I don't! You have to be desperate or deluded to join that group. I only agree to it because I have to please my father."

"Is your father desperate or deluded?" Harry asked, sneaking a look at Draco's reaction. It was one of resigned understanding.

"Deluded, completely deluded. He thinks that the Dark Lord will give him many riches and more land if their side wins, which I know won't happen. The Dark Lord is only using him as a minion and will probably dispose of him when everything is finished and done. My father knows too much now." He explained morosely, his lips turning down at the corners as he spoke.

Harry noticed how he referred to Voldemort's side as "their side" and not "our side."

"So you don't support Voldemort's side?" Draco flinched slightly at the name, but apart from that he looked resolute.

"I support neither side. You may call me a coward for it, but it's for my own survival. I don't support who my father supports because I think they're all insane, I don't support the light because that would make me insane. Not to mention dead." Draco's voice was full of bitter humour, his eyes lit with the irony of it.

"You can support the light, whether your father knows it or not." Harry declared. "I would still be proud of you for doing it."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Proud of me? What are you, my mother?"

Harry cringed. "I hope not, that would be so disturbing."

Draco laughed. "You'd make a crap mother."

"Yeah, not many mothers have a penis..." Harry conjectured before joining in with the laughter. They both laughed longer than necessary, basking in the sudden lightness of the conversation compared to the seriousness of it before that.

"But seriously," Harry said once they had calmed down, "if you join the light you'd get all the protection you need, from Voldemort, from the Death Eaters, from your own father if needs be."

Draco frowned doubtfully. "But I don't want to leave my mother."

"She could be protected too..."

"No, she loves my father, she supports him no matter how crazy his ideas are, she would not leave him." Draco looked down at his hands, blinking hard as he felt his eyes begin to burn. "She wouldn't come with me."

On a complete impulse, Harry reached across and took his hand. "I want you to be protected, I don't want you to become a Death Eater."

Draco scoffed, but it was completely empty of derision. "Harry Potter, wanting me to be protected? This is rather surreal, but tempting." His eyes flickered across Harry's face, his emerald eyes, his tanned skin and his full lips. A quiver of anticipation stole across him as he leaned slowly closer. Harry responded in the same way, leaning in until they were centimetres apart.

"We may have never gotten on in the past, but I would never want you to be under Voldemort's control, you deserve so much more than that, Draco." Harry whispered, all his senses suddenly on fire.

"Harry." Draco's word, said half in surprise and half in pleasure, was like a catalyst. They pressed their lips together in one kiss, two, three... each time they would pull away, repelled, then kiss again, attracted once more. Then Draco threaded one hand gingerly through Harry's unruly hair and kissed him again, wanting to keep them together, just wanting to simply touch him. Harry responded with a half stifled moan to Draco's hand, putting one hand on the blonde's arm with the same need for contact and reassurance. They kissed longer, deeper, more passionately, and then it just felt right and they didn't stop.

"What are we doing?" Draco breathed when they stopped a few minutes later, shame beginning to gnaw at his insides. He wasn't gay – so why was this so amazing? Why had he been so curious about it all these years? Why Harry?

"I don't really know." Harry replied, just as confused. "Perhaps we're still drunk?"

"I don't feel drunk." Draco admitted, not in the mood for believing in a lie. Now was not time for lies and hiding away, now was finally the time for him to sort out some things in his life.

"I don't either." Harry agreed, his hand trailing small patterns down Draco's arm. Draco could not help but shiver in gratification; nobody had ever touched him so softly and tentatively before, he could barely feel the delicate touch through his thick robes but it was undeniably there.

"Then what's wrong with us?" Draco whispered worriedly, there had to be some logical reason, hadn't there? "And why doesn't this feel wrong?"

"Because it's right?" Harry supplied and Draco couldn't help but feel a smile pulling at his mouth. Harry always had to be so obvious about things; it almost made the situation funny except that his stomach was too busy doing back flips.

"I think it is." The words were barely audible, but they were enough for Harry. He stood up, Draco rising with him, and they met by the middle of the table. Draco put his arms around Harry's neck, their skin brushing lightly, and Harry's went around Draco's waist. Then they kissed again, melting into one another now that it was an agreeable thing between them.

"Harry..." Draco said his name again and Harry felt a fire of desire burning its way throughout his body.

"Oh Merlin." He replied, surprised that he could even form comprehensible words, and literally hitched Draco's legs up so that they were straddling his own waist. The need for contact, for Draco's body, was so overwhelming that it was almost scary, though it seemed that the object of Harry's zealous desires was feeling the same way if his reactions were anything to go by. Harry could remember Draco's naked body on the desk so clearly, he had hardly been able to tear his eyes away, and he knew that he wanted to see it again.

He lifted Draco and then carried him to the very same big desk: he surmised it to be the teacher's desk. He wanted to create the very same scene as when he had first seen Draco so exposed and defenceless. He was pained to admit it, but the sight had really, really turned him on at the time, and now that he knew Draco wanted him too – well, it made it even worse or better, depending on how you looked at it.

Clothes were torn off quickly, Draco taking off as many things of Harry's as Harry did with items of Draco's. They were down to their underwear when suddenly Draco stopped, fixing Harry with a mischievous look.

"You've already seen me naked, so it's your turn." He said, smiling evilly. Harry readily agreed and abandoned his boxers, Draco drinking in the entire sight of him in positive appraisal. Then he smiled. "My turn."

Then, when they were both naked and had connected eyes after simply studying each other for a while with sheer curiosity of one another, there was an awkward pause.

"Erm... have you ever done this before?" Harry asked and Draco shook his head.

"No, I didn't even really consider myself liking men before today." Draco said, biting his lip in a rare show of nervousness. "What about you?"

"I'm a virgin, if I'm honest." Harry blushed but Draco shrugged, it wasn't a big deal.

"I am too, I'm always getting stick for it from the other boys in my dormitory." He divulged and Harry raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Not even Pansy Parkinson? She's obsessed with you." Harry pointed out and Draco scrunched up his nose.

"I'd like to think I have higher standards." He said and they both laughed nervously.

"So um... should I?" Harry motioned to Draco's body and Draco nodded slowly, hypnotized in his watching as Harry shifted his body slightly so that they were more aligned. Harry then lifted Draco's legs and they wrapped themselves around a tanned waist, their erections rubbing together and making both gasp in unison.

"Wait," Harry stopped, thinking about any random facts he knew about gay sex, of which there were very few, "Don't we need... lubrication or something?"

Draco bit his lip again, a nervous habit that Harry had never noticed about him at all (most of the time he was completely expressionless, so it probably wasn't hard to miss.)

"I'm not really sure about the spell... I heard Blaise talking about it once..." he concentrated and then muttered something under his breath. Whatever the spell had been it had worked, for both of them were suddenly covered in a warm substance that Harry had never seen before.

"You could have warned me, Draco..." Harry said, squirming slightly at the new sensation, "and I don't think my stomach really needed it..."

"Sorry." Draco looked at the floor. He really hated being shown as inexperienced at anything and it grated even more when it was in front of his childhood rival, no matter what sorts of understandings they had reached recently.

Harry still felt awkward, but then he looked into Draco's eyes, just as acutely embarrassed, afraid and desire-filled as his, and he began to relax. He slipped in slowly, with the utmost care, and even then Draco still yelped out in pain. Harry froze but Draco reached towards his hips, trying to get him to push in further.

"It's a good hurt..." he said, his voice hoarse, and Harry gave into his unspoken commands, pushing in very slowly. Draco kept on groaning, Harry could not tell whether it was from pain or pleasure, but all Harry could feel was the beautiful product of desire building up inside of him.

Suddenly Draco gave a loud moan and jerked his torso upwards, his arms wrapping around Harry's waist, and this sudden movement finished it for both of them at the same time, shouting obscenities and incoherent words in unison.

Harry pulled out soon afterwards feeling as if his whole body could have been visibly glowing. Draco's body had taken a shining quality to it, from a mixture of his own glow of post-coital sweat and how the warm light of the shafts of late afternoon sun splayed across his naked body. Harry could not help but marvel how he could have made Draco this way, just how he was feeling, his body seeming utterly boneless and his mind completely blissful. He also considered proudly that so far only he, Harry, had made Draco this way. Somehow he wanted to be the only one, though this was doubtful. Would Draco Malfoy seriously want a relationship with him?

Draco was thinking along the same lines about Harry. He had just taken the Golden Boy's virginity when he was a) for the most part of their school career so far an enemy of Harry, b) the son of a Death Eater who wanted Harry dead and c) another boy, though this last fact mattered the least to him.

And he had no idea what it had meant to Harry, though he had few ideas about what it had meant to him either. He knew for fact that he had enjoyed it, he had trusted Harry enough to do what he did (knowing full well from what he had heard from Blaise, a friend of his who was gay, how painful a first time was for two men) and he did not regret it one bit. Did Harry regret it? Probably. Had Draco been a pity fuck? He really, really hoped not.

"So," Harry's voice broke Draco's thoughts, "will you accept protection from the light?"

Draco's mind was flooded with new thoughts, remembering their earlier conversation about the path that his father had destined for Draco and then the much more tempting path that Harry had offered him. He had to weigh things up.

On the one hand he could join the Dark Lord's side. He would be pleasing his parents. He would have the Dark Lord's protection. If the Dark Lord's side won the war he would have a better chance at life afterwards. But he would be a slave to a murderous madman, in constant danger of his whims, and he would be hated by many for a mark on his arm.

On the other hand, he could defect to the light. He would be under the protection of Dumbledore, not to mention others, from the Death Eaters. He would not have to commit horrid deeds that he would have to do working for the Dark Lord. He would be supporting the honourable side, supporting through choice instead of fear. Yet his parents would hate him and the Dark Lord would also be baying for his blood, just like Harry's.

But he would be with Harry...

"I want to side with the light." Draco whispered, reaching out his hand to lightly touch Harry's jaw line. "I want to support you."

"Even at the cost of losing your parents?" Harry asked quietly, knowing the costs for Draco no matter which side he chose.

"Even at that." Draco replied. "I can't live my whole life following what my father says. I have to follow my own choices."

"That's very brave of you." Harry leaned in, breathing the words into his ear. The tickling sensation paired with his words made Draco laugh softly.

"Even so, it doesn't make me a Gryffindor." He chided. Harry looked into his eyes.

"I don't mind if you're Slytherin or Gryffindor, to me you're Draco." He said honestly. Draco's heart leapt, but his brain still felt as shrewd as it always did.

"But Slytherin is better, you know."

"Yeah... whatever..."

Some things would never change, perhaps that was for the best, Harry pondered as he watched Draco's eyes, creased silver joy as he laughed.

*****

Ron, Fred and George were returning to the room in which Draco was at their mercy without Harry, having not found him in their search of the library.

"Strange..." Fred, or possibly George, had remarked, but Ron had shrugged it off.

"He's probably flying around on the Quidditch pitch or visiting Hagrid. Harry is always disappearing off like that."

So they stopped dwelling on how they were missing a member of the original capture-and-humiliate-Malfoy team whilst walking along the winding corridors to where their hostage was waiting. They had hoped that someone would have found him, causing the school to explode with gossip. But no such talk had reached their ears, so disappointment was already gnawing in the bottom of their stomachs. But they refused to accept that nobody had found him – perhaps they just hadn't overheard it yet? Besides, the agonizing hours he must have spent, expecting to be found – that was worthy enough.

They came to the door, still closed, with nobody else in the corridor and went to open the door. Ron turned the handle, but it would not open.

"Ah, it's stuck!" He said, rattling the door in his efforts to open it. This alerted Harry and Draco, Harry still being in the room fully clothed. Draco was still naked, as agreed by them that this would be the quickest way to get everything ready for when the others returned. On hearing Ron's voice, Draco quickly lay back on the bench and Harry performed the same, quite complicated spell to redo the invisible binds to which the password would be the same as last time.

Then Harry grabbed the tightly folded up invisibility cloak out of his robes pocket and threw it over himself. Draco, not having known about the cloak, was temporarily astounded until he understood: so that was how Harry got away with so much, sneaking around at night!

"Oi, move." One of the twins' voices could be heard, "_Alohomora_." The door swung open obediently and Draco steeled himself to give the three boys his nastiest glare.

"Oh, finally come back, have you?" He sneered, staying stock-still and trying to ignore the little fact that he was completely naked again. He found himself beginning to miss Harry's concealing cloak, even with the Gryffindor emblem...

"Hey, don't be rude." One twin, Draco could never tell them apart, mock reprimanded him.

"Yes," said the other, "be a nice little snake or we won't free you back into the wild."

Draco kept the fact that he felt like hissing at them to himself.

"Talking of little snakes..."

"Fuck off Weasley!" Draco could not help but react at this: this was his manhood in question! It didn't matter that he didn't know which redhead he was addressing.

"Ugh," the youngest Weasley spoke up, "I can't believe you were even looking."

"Oh, man up," a twin poked Ron, "we've all got one. Even Harry didn't mind looking..."

All the boys cleared their throats in simultaneous awkwardness; it was rather strange how interested Harry had been, but back in the common room, on quiet reflection, they put it down to simple curiosity. Draco tried valiantly to hide the smirk on his face (he knew for fact that Harry had done more than looked at him) but none of the redheads noticed.

"Well, I guess we should let you go now." One of the twins mused and then the other performed the complicated sounding spell so that Draco was free. He leapt up for the second time that day, but this time turned around straight away to give himself some dignity.

"Now give me my clothes and wand!" He demanded.

"Oh, such rudeness!" Came a gasp. "I think we'll just leave you like this, actually."

Before Draco could turn around all three had run out the door and slammed it shut, all bearing cheeky grins on their faces and holding in their laughter for mere seconds before Draco could hear a burst of it from down the hall. They hadn't locked the door, but this would have made no difference; they wanted Draco to try running back to the Slytherin dorms completely starkers.

It would have made no difference, except that he still had his unexpected accomplice. Harry showed himself, also bearing a grin of his own, and draped the cool fabric of the invisibility cloak over Draco's shoulders.

"They didn't bargain on this, did they?" He mused and Draco laughed himself this time.

"You and your bloody heroic tendencies, I didn't think they would stretch even to me." He observed whilst turning around, his front barely covered, and tentatively putting one arm around Harry. Harry responded by planting little kisses across his exposed neck and collarbone.

"Oh, they will always extend to you." He whispered, adding "not that I any, Malfoy. And I noticed that they actually did leave your clothes and wand, Gryffindors aren't that cruel." Draco whirled around.

"They did? Where?" He asked but then spotted them himself, in a bundle in one corner of the room. Giving a tut, he picked them up, brushed them off, and then proceeded to dress himself again. Never had he appreciated a school uniform more. "Oh Merlin, that's much better."

"So..." Harry gestured to the door, "what now?" Draco knew that he was referring to much more than their simply leaving. He meant Draco's defection to the light, their new standing together, what was going to happen next.

"Well," Draco walked closer to his companion, "firstly, I'm going to go back to the Slytherin dorms and," he cupped Harry's face with one hand, "seeming as you're looking so worried, I've decided not to get the Weasleys in trouble for what they did, though don't think that I'm going to be nice to them or anything." Harry sighed in relief.

"Then," Draco himself looked a bit more apprehensive at this point, though he hid it well, "with your... help... I want to make my intentions of supporting your side clear to Dumbledore, seeming as he appears to be in charge of all that sort of thing." Harry smiled then, the expression lighting up his whole face. It made the words less painful for Draco to say, even though they were going against what had been drilled into him for his entire life. Sometimes changes were necessary, he reminded himself. Sometimes changes were for the better.

"Of course I'll help you," Harry reassured him, "in anything you need." He glared when Draco laughed. "Not because of this supposed hero complex! It's because I..." he blushed, "it's because I care about this. About you." This effectively shut both boys up as they both looked away, embarrassed.

"Thank you." Draco mumbled and Harry said nothing to ruin the extremely rare moment, simply raising his eyebrows in surprise. With that, they opened the door and stepped out of the room that had held them together for so many hours, and had changed everything for them.

The Slytherin dungeons were one way, and the Gryffindor tower the other. Harry and Draco paused, standing only slightly apart from each other.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Harry asked, keeping his voice casual, though his heart was beating so hard he dreaded that it was actually audible.

"Tomorrow." Draco repeated, nodding. "Yes, tomorrow evening I want you to meet me outside Dumbledore's office."

"Of course." Harry agreed. He dared to lean forward, after checking the corridor was deserted, and they gave each other a quick kiss. The rush of adrenaline from it almost matched the one Harry always felt after taking a particularly deep dive on the Quidditch pitch.

"8 o' clock sharp, don't be late Potter." Draco demanded, sounding very much like his old self again as he walked away. Harry walked the other way, thinking to himself.

Yes, some things never changed...

* * *

**A/N: Yeeees, I know, infeasibly quick turn to the light there and everything, but let's just say this is just a little mix of humour, fluff and crack, shall we? :)**

**And I use lacewing as a potions ingredient everytime I need to think of one, haha... I should really think of more.  
**


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